Page 48 of Maleen

“It’s okay,” she tells me. “Now we know, and I won’t do that to you again. I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to trigger you.”

I kiss her softly, letting the panic recede, and once I’m calm I roll off her, pulling her with me. “You have nothing to apologize for, Princess. I should have known being on my back like that might have consequences.” I sigh. “You would think I have more triggers with Craven as my father.” A dry, bitter laugh leaves me.

She wraps her arms around my bicep and rests her head on my shoulder as she listens to me talk aimlessly—as I remember. “It was always mind games with him. He always used other fae I care about to control me. When I was younger, it was you, Jesp, Aemon and Kill. Then once Cynder came into the picture after we lost you… I did everything to keep her safe. Sure, sometimes he would beat me, or starve me, but nothing did lasting damage. After all, we had an image to keep up.

“You know, for awhile, I wasn’t able to see the others? It was for the year before our first year at Phixmery,” I mutter as the memory takes over.

Jesper and I were visiting Killian in Skyrivene. The sun was out and it was a gorgeous day to begin the trek home on horseback.

Killian storms into the stables. “Out!” he snaps at the staff tacking up my steed. Once they are gone, he turns to me. “I have a bad feeling about you going home. I think you should stay, damn the consequences; we can figure it out. We don’t need to go to Phixmery next year. Things are taking off with our plan.”

I shake my head. “You know if I don’t go back, he will just drag me home anyway. Plus it will only be a few months until I see you both again.”

“Talyn,” he groans, and I know he’s concerned, and to be honest, I am too. Something seemed off about my father’s letter; I know I’m in for a beating, but that I can handle.

“I’ll be fine,” I promise

And I wish I could say that it was the truth. Because after three weeks of traveling home on horseback, I arrive in hell.

My father storms into the stable of Craven Manor and blasts me off my horse with a wave of air. He doesn’t speak a word, but his anger vibrates around him, stinking the place up with the sour scent. Vines wrap around my limbs as he hoists me up. “I will break you, son,” he sneers. “You will be my most perfect weapon.” And then everything goes dark.

I shiver as Rav clings to me. “For a year I didn’t have any contact with anyone. He locked me away, starved me, beat me. The others couldn’t find me, either. He told me it was to harden me for Phixmery. That I would be a formidable warrior. His second in command,” I snarl. “A lot of that time is missing, but that was when I first found out he promised me to Evera. Some sort of deal with her father, but the more I think about that… It doesn’t make sense why he would want an heir when he has me. Unless he knew I wasn’t going to break and wanted someone else to mold. But I suppose I might never get an actual answer for that.”

“I’m still going to murder that bitch when I find her,” she snarls.

I kiss her forehead. “She’s all yours, my mate.”

She grins up at me and that smile is worth all the pain I had to endure to get her.

“Good; now I don’t know about you, but I am famished!”

Suddenly another voice pops into my mind and I’m not sure how I know, but it’s Nero. “Oh thank the Fates. I was wondering when you two would be done. Someone want to open a window and let me in? Because I’m also starving. So Rav, was his dick as small as I thought it was?”

“Nero!” she gasps. “Maybe I should make you scavenge for your own breakfast this morning.”

“You wouldn’t!”

I can’t help but snicker. “It’s not about the size of the boat, it’s the motion of the ocean, and I’m positive I helped her get her sea legs.”

Ravina turns red and mumbles something about too many voices in her head, but thanks to this new bond, I know she’s happy and that’s all that matters.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“I WANT GUARDS AT EVERY entry point into Maleen. I need you all in groups of two to keep watch, circling the perimeter of the city. I want no one in or out until further notice or approved by me,” I growl. No one will be getting to Ravina. No one. I will protect her.

Her scars flash across my thoughts and I feel the urge to pummel shit into dust again, my magick pulsing in my fists. I shouldn’t have run out on her; I should have stayed and comforted my mate, but I couldn’t. Not because her scars make her any less beautiful and strong, although she should have never had to endure that. No, I ran because I didn’t want her to see me that angry, that full of rage. It was like I became a different male—all I could see was red, no thoughts, only destruction.

My fists curl, and some of the soldiers side-eye me as they scurry off to do as commanded. Crescent indents from my nails cut into my flesh and I feel the beads of blood roll between my fingers. That fucking bastard is still out there, and I won’t rest until his head is on a fucking pike. I’ll take pleasure ripping his head from his spine with my bare hands after I recreate every damn mark on my mate’s body.

Anger shudders through me, gripping me tightly. She should have never had to experience any of that. She should have been safe. Memories from my past hold me against my will as I slip in and out of them.

I fall to my knees in the middle of my father’s training grounds, sweat and blood pooling beneath me as I pant through the pain.

“Again!” my father bellows, and I hear the whistle of the whip before its sharp iron tip rips through my flesh. “On your feet son,” he sneers. “Formations again, and they better be fucking perfect this time or I’ll bring your mother out.”

Panic takes hold in my throat as I climb to my feet with shaky legs. The sword in my hand weighs only a few pounds but right now, it feels as if I’m trying to lift a boulder. I grasp it tightly in both hands, starting the formations again, the movements so familiar that I should be able to do them in my sleep, but with every stretch my wounds reopen. I grit through the pain, even as my hot, sticky blood drips down my back.

I’m careful with every movement. I need to protect her; every movement needs to be perfect. I can’t have her brought out here. I can’t let her see me like this.